Tuscan Gold

About Me

Biography: I attended Colorado University Extension in Denver, and later moved to Florence, Italy where I studied art and Italian at L’Università Per Gli Stranieri. To finance my education my job résumé was as colorful as the Renaissance city itself. I shivered as an artist’s model and sang the blues in catacomb nightclubs. I worked as an interpreter/translator for a textile company and hawked leather goods to tourists.
Back on US soil, the colors on my résumé remained vibrant. In addition to Italian teacher at Berlitz School of Languages and a two-year stint as a Playboy Bunny, I added hairdresser/salon owner, to my palette. Classes in writing, cartooning, and art filled whatever free hours remained.
In 1996 I moved to Hawaii, where, for the following ten years, I devoted myself to painting and writing. Now, a resident of Connecticut, I divide my time between painting, writing, and Italian poetry translations.
My art can be viewed at: http://www.PamelaAllegretto-Franz.com

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Many artists dream about painting in Italy. Now, as retiring baby-boomers are increasingly taking up “brush and pallet knife,” more than ever, painting in Italy is the “thing.” Every day, a new “Artist’s” tour of Italy crops up in travel sections of the newspaper and on the Internet. But there still remains a majority of artists who prefer to “go it alone.” They are independent in their artistic styles, and prefer to be independent regarding their travels in Italy . This blog intends to target these free spirited artists who still need guidance to the best places to paint, especially those idyllic gems that are little known and less traveled. Certainly, independent travelers who are not artists will also benefit from this blog.

With a few exceptions, this blog is not a guide to restaurants, lodging, rental cars, or shopping, (except for art supplies.)

Sprinkled among the posts are: my paintings, and a few Italian proverbs and poems written by notable Italian authors for whom I work as a translator.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Shadowed by the Matterhorn, the small, picturesque Lago D’Orta(Lake
Orta) is surrounded by forests with a wild and
melancholy beauty. Just eight miles long and less than two miles wide,Lake Orta is one
of the smallest and least known of northern Italy'ssub-Alpine lakes.
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who visited the lake in 1882, believed the experience
changed his life forever. He inscribed
the date "von Orta an" ("from Orta
onwards") as a preface to his masterpiece Thus
Spake Zarathustra. I can’t guarantee that going to Lake
Orta to paint will change your life forever, but
I can promise you’ll come away with some of the most beautiful images you’ve
every put down on canvas. Other
19th-century writers enchanted by its quiet beauty include the French novelist Honoré
de Balzac, who wrote rapturously of this "gray
pearl in a green jewel-box", andRobert Browning whose poem "By the Fireside" contemplates the beauty of a setting where "Alp
meets heaven in snow", describes the lakeside village of Pellaas a luminous "speck of white... in the
evening-glow".

With all this glowing praise, you might
imagine Orta San Giulio, the main
town of Lake Orta, to be
swarming with tourists, but it’s not.
Many visitors ignore this little gem and flock eastwards to the nearby,
much larger Lago Maggiore. Their
loss is your gain, as it keeps the crowds to a minimum.

Parking in the town center can be a bit
tricky, well okay, more than tricky: impossible, as it is traffic-free. But there are a few small parking lots up on
the main road and the walk down into town is an easy one. Don’t try parking on the main road; there
are blue lines on each side that indicate resident parking only. Parking tickets are common sites and the
fines are steep and payable on site.

In town, you’ll find more than enough
paint-worthy subjects: stone archways, flower-choked balconies, and courtyards
tucked behind ornate iron gates.
Pastel-washed 16th and 17th-century buildings
house small shops, and winding alleyways zigzag to a maze of narrow
streets. Piazza Motta is the perfect location to set up. This broad, flagged square runs parallel to
the waterfront and is partially shielded from the hustle and bustle of the
jetty by an impressive row of chestnut trees.
Colorful cafés spread out across the piazza if you prefer to sketch
while sipping a glass of the local wine.

Certainly,
you must allow time to visit Isola San Giulio. From the jetty of Orta
San Giulio, boats leave every ten minutes for the five-minute trip to the
island in the middle of the lake.
Centuries-old legend says the island was home to dragons, but don’t be
scared off,St Julius,
the island's namesake and
founder of its basilica, arrived at Lake Orta over 1,600 years ago and
dispatched the dragons with his sword.
So if you were looking forward to painting dragons, I’m sorry to
disappoint you. But don’t worry,
there’s plenty more to keep your artist’s eye excited.

Even without dragons, the island has a
magical “feel.” Take the flagged
alleyway, which flits in and out of the sunlight as it weaves around the
island’s interior. There are many quiet
places to stop and sketch. I emphasize “quiet,”
as the alleyway is signed: “the way of silence,” in one direction
and “the way of meditation” in the other. You
will also come across small signs in various languages that remind you this is
a place for reflection such as: "If you can be yourself, you are
everything." And,
“Listen to the water, the wind, your steps."

Lovely old palazzi, draped in wisteria
and trumpet vines, ring the waterfront of Isola San Giulio, making it an
ideal spot to sit and paint or sketch.
The views from the waterfront back to the mainland town of Orta San
Giulio are luscious.

I recommend bringing along some bottled
water if you plan to stay on the island for a few hours. There is only one small gift shop where
water is available.

Back on the mainland, Orta San
Giulio’spièce de résistance demands a bit of a climb (325ft above
the lake if you’re counting) up to the Sacro Monte di San Francesco. This hilltop plateau laid out with 20 chapels
dedicated to the life of Saint Francis of Assisi is very cool. All the chapels are unique in design,
reflecting the fact that building took place over a 200-year period.

Sacro Monte was designated a National
Park in 1980. The chapels are built like a village, amid meandering paths,
woods, and a plethora of wildflowers, all this, plus incredible views of Lake
Orta lying dreamily below on her mountain bed.

Do bring water, and I suggest a
picnic. There’s a lot to paint and
you’ll really need at least half a day. Once you’re here, your only dilemma
will be what to paint first.

Since this is a National Park, be
sure to follow the rules and stay on the designated paths so as not to trample
nature’s balance. If you do go off the
paths, there are groundskeepers in the area who will quickly get you back on
track.